“Web standards” can be standardized markup languages used to facilitate the sharing of structured data across different computer information systems, particularly via the Internet, and may also be used both to encode documents and to serialize data. Such standards generally employ the Extensible Markup Language (“XML”) as a foundation for their syntax. Internet XML standards tend to be unrestrictive, preferring expressibility over interoperability. This has led to the development of various profiles of XML-based web standards, where a profile limits the permissible options in order to improve interoperability between independent implementations of the standard.
Compatibility problems can arise when independently implemented versions of a web standard interact with one another, even if both implementations have attempted to follow the same profile. It can be desirable for an organization to standardize its web services using a selected web profile, for example, to foster interoperation with web-based components developed by different vendors. However, compatibility problems, such as if the implemented web services are non-conformant to the selected web profile and/or if external communicating parties are operating non-conformant implementations, can hamper interoperability or even cause the organization's web-based services to cease functioning. Individual instances of this non-conformity, known as “conformance violations,” can include the use of a construct in a message which, while permissible by a base web standard, is not permissible in the profile being followed, or the non-use of a construct required by the profile.